Being unable to teach as much as I would like has allowed me to view my classes from another perspective. Rather than being immersed in the class and experiencing the “forest for the trees” perspective, I have been watching the classes passively and evaluating the efficacy of the curriculum and the way it is taught. What I noticed this week is that there is still a tendency for instructors to teach the curriculum and forget to teach the students. The difference in the two approaches is the difference between teaching and showing. Showing is easy, teaching is hard. Showing is perspective and empathy independent, teaching is completely dependent upon both.
As Silent River Kung Fu continues to develop and improve its curriculum, it is imperative that I properly train my black belts to become master teachers whose methods serve the students who represent the future of the organization and the future of the art.
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” ― William Arthur Ward (1921 - 1994)
1 comment:
Jeff,
I have been following your posts for a while now. This is - in my opinion - one of your best.
Your comment - "a tendency for instructors to teach the curriculum and forget to teach the students" - is well written and totally true.
A friend of mine asked me recently to help him with his new martial arts kids curriculum. My thoughts to him are below. Hope you find them interesting.
Sean Allen
A scattering of thoughts for you:
- I don't have one good way of marketing to get 100 kids, I have 100 ways to get one kid.
- If your program is good enough, you won't need to think up marketing methods.
- Your instructors are the ticket to success. Everything else runs a distant second. Including what you teach.
- A good teacher can change the world. If you don't believe this, your instructors won't.
- Making money from your kids program is not a symbol of your success. The success of your kids in their life is.
- Kids want to have fun but they actually do understand that they need to be smart ... smarter than their parents.
All this said, kids need to learn how to think under pressure more than they need to know how to stop an attacker.
- Teaching kids character development (or adults for that matter) can't be added in to the end of a lesson. It must be woven into the lesson. It must be a result of the problems that arise when trying to master a technique against a non-compliant partner.
- Bullying - Anti-bully programs, Bullybuster programs, etc. Confident martial arts students don't need a method to deal with a bully. They aren't picked on. The answer to bullying is to either teach martial arts or to raise self esteem so that the taunting has no effect. By the way, there is no reason why a martial arts instructor can't teach how to deal with cyber-bullying. It's actually more in our job description than it is in a teacher's.
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